Forever
by Fabiennka
Summary: Kate Beckett and Rick Castle are getting married. It should be forever. Is anything going to come in their way to happiness? Yes, there's some Caskett fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so... fist of all, hey. This is my first story in English. I hope I did good. English is not my first language, so patience, please ;) And if you find any mistakes, please let me know, I will change it as soon as possible ;) But I hope there aren't any. **

**This idea just popped into my head one day, and I thought it would be great to get it out on the paper, I hope this chapter is good enough to keep reading ;) There will be a twist of course, but not that kind of twist you all think of. You'll see. Anyway, I hope it's interesting enough. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn't live in Poland.**

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"Castle? What are you doing here?" Kate asked, surprised by seeing him sliding slowly to her current one-night bedroom."You're not supposed to be here!"

"Oh, come on mrs. Castle, really?" he whined like a little kid.

"May I remind you that I'm not mrs. Castle just yet? And it's a long way till tomorrow, I can change my mind, you know." she said teasingly, as he came closer to her and put his hands on her waist. He pulled her closer and just before kissing her he whispered to her mouth "You'd never do that," and then he pressed his lips to hers. After a moment she broke the kiss, and put her head on his shoulder.

"You're right" she said, breathing into his chest "I wouldn't do that. I love you and I want to be with you. Forever."

That night she was staying at Lanie's apartment, it was a day before their wedding, and she wasn't suppose to sleep/be with her soon-to-be husband right before the ceremony (according to the tradition), and Lanie insisted she stayed at her place. And now he was there anyway. What should she do? Kick him out or let him stay? She didn't want to kick him out. So she quickly came up with a plan.

"Ok, mr. Castle. You can stay here tonight. But no. No funny business and you need to set your alarm clock the earliest that possible. I don't want Lanie to see you, she will be all over my head when that happens." She said, still hugging him.

"I can live with that. As long as you're mine tonight. Sorry, but funny business involved." he grinned, and laid them down on the bed. Kate was sure that she will not get all that much sleep as she planned.

.

The alarm clock rang. 5.30 a.m. Rick rubbed his eyes unconsciously, wondering why it was so early. And then he remembered that his wedding was in a few hours, and he was not supposed to be where he was. Kate was still sleeping next to him, her back pressed to his stomach.

"Hey gorgeous." He whispered to her ear and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. She felt his breath near her ear, and opened her eyes.

"Hey handsome." She replied. "You know, I don't want you to go." She said softly.

"Well, I can stay. And we can go for the fourth round." He teased, softly biting her ear, and then he started placing kisses on her neck. It felt really good, she thought. Oh, she so wanted him to stay. But with the last remains of her strong will she managed to stop herself from a little moan that was coming up, and sat up against the headboard.

"Rick, we really can't. You need to go." Kate kissed him in the cheek one more time and pulled off the covers, got up in search of her panties and bra. After a couple of seconds when she finally found them she also found Rick staring at her.

"You know, staring is still creepy, Castle." She said and then threw him his boxers. "Go, dress up." Rick did as she said, he went to the bathroom, took a quick shower and then dressed up. He was ready to leave the bathroom, when he heard voices. Two of them. Lanie must have woke up early, too. Jeez, this woman. He waited a little, and when he thought she was gone, he quietly sneaked out of the bathroom. And did he look surprised when he saw his fiancee's best friend standing in the doorway.

"And good morning to you, too." Lanie said. "You know, your facial expression when you saw me was priceless. I don't want to know what happened. In fact, I can figure it out myself, so let me just go and forget those images I just envisioned. Uh..." And she left the room shaking her head.

"Ok, what exactly was that?" Castle asked a little surprised. "She didn't give you a lecture about sleeping with me the night before the wedding?"

"Well, she might have said something, but then she said she somehow knew you wouldn't give up, so she supposed you will be here." Kate replied, coming closer to him and closing them in a warm hug.

"I like her thinking mechanisms, then." Castle grinned and placed a kiss on Kate's head.

(.)

"I, Katherine Beckett, take you, Richard Castle, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

"I, Richard Castle, take you, Katherine Beckett, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

"You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings. That God has joined, men must not divide. Amen." the priest said. "Mr. Castle, you may kiss your bride." He added.

Nobody had to say it to Castle twice. He went for it right away. The kiss was soft. And kind of hot. And filled with love.

"We're married." She whispered as they broke apart. A huge smile on her face. She was happy. She was going to spend her forever with the man she loved. Her one and done. She was going to have kids with him, and amazing life, grow old together, and tell their grandchildren stories of how they met, how they solved cases together, how they were saving each other's lives. All that was in front of them, and she could see their future so clearly. She wasn't scared of it, she was happy, because she married her second half, and she was sure it was forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! First of all I wanted to thank you all for the reviews and all of the story alerts and favorites alerts. As to reviews, there are only two, but a really great amount of people subscribed to this story, my mail was really happy to see all those alerts, and I was really surprised that it seems that a lot of people liked it, just after the first chapter. I really didn't expect that, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

**As for this chapter... It was kinda fun to write. I don't know, it just flew under my fingers and the ideas started coming just when I started writing, so I like the way it turned out. Don't know about you, though. Will you like it? Yes? No? Review, please ;) I want to know what you think. And if there's too many Caskett fluff, then I'm really sorry, I can't help myself, I really like them like that :D**

**Disclaimer: Yeah. No.**

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"Okay, this is the last one." Castle said bringing the luggage into the loft. They just came back from their two week honeymoon in Italy, and they were exhausted because of the time change. Kate fell on their living room couch, and as soon as he put away the luggage, Rick joined her.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked.

"I had the best time!" she answered with a smile. "Husband."

"Oh yeah, that never gets old." he grinned and kissed her senseless. And they probably would have gotten much further than just a kiss, but they heard the key in the lock, and they quickly broke that kiss. Seconds later they saw a read head coming through the door. Alexis smiled when she caught a sight of them.

"Hi dad! Hi Kate! I thought you are going to be here in the evening, why are you so early?" she asked.

"My dear daughter, are you not happy you see us earlier?" Castle teased and got the look from Alexis. "Well, our plane was rescheduled. That's why we're earlier. It's good though, we're exhausted."

"Right! And starving!" Kate added. "It's nice to see you, sweetie." She added to Alexis.

"It's nice to see you back, too." The girl replied. "So, what are we eating?"

"How about we let your father take over the kitchen, and I'll tell you everything about Italy?"

"That's a great idea. Dad, mac and cheese, please."

"Excuse me, am I your butler, lady?" Castle faked the indignation.

"For tonight you can be." Alexis joked and the ladies both laughed.

"Women, what would you do without us?" Rick asked humorously.

"Die from starvation." Kate quickly replied. "Come on, chop, chop. Quickie, quickie."

And when she said 'quickie' he looked at her with his eyes already more blue than normally, and he started to regret that they're not in their bedroom right now.

"You know, the 'quickie' we can have later, after we eat." He whispered her to the ear.

"Eww, dad!" Alexis threw a pillow in his direction, and she didn't fail. "I could hear that! You really need to work on your whispering skills."

"Sorry pumpkin."

"Just so we're clear, should I get me some earplugs, headphones, whatever?"

"No worries, my bedroom is soundproofed, if you didn't notice."

"Again, ew!"

"Castle, can we get our macaroni and cheese now? Please?" Kate added to the conversation with the strange sound from her stomach. "See, I'm really hungry."

"Okay, okay. I'm going." he said and went into the kitchen.

"So, how was the trip?" Alexis asked Kate when Rick was in the kitchen, and Kate started to talk about the places in Italy that they've been to, and what they saw.

.

After about half an hour the food was ready, so they all sat down with their plates, and Castle turned on the tv, connected the camera with the television and they started to play photos from they honeymoon. Alexis was really excited seeing all those places there, and Kate was telling her where particular photos were taken. They were telling her funny stories from the trip and how amazing it was and that they need to go there again, all three of them. After the dinner was eaten, Alexis got up from the table.

"Okay, I think I'm going to go read something. Have a nice evening, you guys." She said and headed to the stairs.

Rick took the dishes to the dishwasher and put them in there, then came back to Kate, who was already back on the couch, taking the remote from the coffee table. He sat next to her and started placing soft kisses on her neck and collar bones.

"Rick..." She tried to focus on saying something. "What..." another kiss "are..." and another "you do..." and then the kiss in the lips. She looked at him surprised and he grinned.

"What? Surprised? Didn't I promise you anything earlier?"

"What exactly did you promise me?"

"A quickie?" he asked with the 'duh' in his voice.

"Oh, that. I thought you were kidding in front of Alexis." she teased.

"Well, I suggest now, that we take this party somewhere else" he said, jumping off the couch and handing her one hand to stand up. She took it and she landed in his arms. They started to kiss slowly and headed to the bedroom, not breaking the kiss. When they were in his study, her t-shirt and his belt flew somewhere, then her bra and his shirt. He unzipped her jeans and she did the same, when they fell on the bed she was just in her panties, which he took off really quickly, too, still not stopping the kiss. She was hot and he wanted her, right here and right now. He parted her legs with his knee and slowly started coming in. And when he heard her quiet moans of pleasure, he knew they're doing it right.

.

A month later Kate woke up in the middle of the nigh. She didn't feel very well, in fact she felt terrible, like she was going to throw up. She got up from the bed, and went to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water. But it didn't help, it actually made it worse. She ran to the bathroom and she spent there a good half an hour. After some time she was so exhausted that she couldn't even stand by herself, and Rick who woke up, too, because he heard noises from the bathroom, had to carry her to bed. She didn't know what was going on with her, something like that never happened to her. When he put her on the bed, he pulled up the covers, and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. After a while he was fast asleep against her back, too.

Fortunately the next day was Kate's day off. She ate some breakfast in the morning that Rick had made for her, and felt better. When he went to his study to write a little, the thought popped to her head. _No, that's not possible.- _she thought. _But what if...- _that was the second thought. And then she thought that it's better to know than to not know. She dressed up and went down to the pharmacy. When she came back, she locked herself up in the bathroom. That was her moment of truth. She was nervous, she was walking back and forth, and after a few minutes she finally decided to take that test. She took out that stick, peed on it, and waited. It was only five minutes, but it felt like forever. After that time she looked at the stick. Two lines. Great. And then she pulled another pregnancy test out from the paper bag. She repeated her actions from 5 minutes ago, and waited again. Two lines again. There was no doubt now. She knew what that meant. She went out of the bathroom, went through their bedroom and stood in the doorway to his study. He looked at her. His eyes calm and concerned. And worried. And filled with so much love. He made a gesture inviting her to sit on his lap. She stood in the doorway a little more and then moved in his direction. She sat on his lap laying her head on his shoulders. He planted a small kiss on her forehead. They were quiet for a moment.

"I'm pregnant." she said finally, breaking the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I feel like it is crap. I really tried for this chapter to come out natural, and I maybe got a little carried away. Anyways, in this chapter is a little Kate/Alexis bonding time, and I know that in the show Alexis would have had a hard time with her father marrying Beckett (if that ever happens), and that she wouldn't call her "mom" for sure, but I just have to say that I, personally, love reading fanfics, where she calls her "mom," so here we go, I did it, too. Hope it's not too "lovely" and too sweet, and doesn't make you want to throw up. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned them, Castle and Beckett would have made that happen a long time ago.**

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"Good morning, baby" he said to her stomach kissing it as they were lying on their bed. She smiled widely and put her hand on his head, palms running through his hair.

"You think he hears you?"

"He? Do you know something I don't?"

"Oh Jeez, Castle. It's too early, remember? Besides I just said that, because what am I suppose to call my child? _It_? Sorry, it's not an _it_."

"Okay, okay." he laughed quietly. "You know we really haven't talked about it, have we? What would you like, a son or a daughter?"

"Whatever, really. As long as our kid will be healthy." she answered.

"That's a good answer. I for one wouldn't mind if this little one here" he pointed to her stomach and rubbed his hand across it "was a boy. But it wouldn't be bad if it was a girl, too." He kissed her stomach again.

"Okay. Names now. Did you think about some good ones?" Kate asked.

"Well, not really. But I do have some pretty good ideas right about now."

"Rick... Please, no stripper names for a girl!" she whined. And she added when she saw a grin on his face. "And no, no James Bond or Star Wars movie names for a boy. Understood?"

"Okay. We will figure something out when the right time comes, okay?" Rick brought himself up and kissed her on the cheek.

"I can live with that." Kate answered and they buried themselves in their heavenly satin sheets.

.

The next day Alexis took Kate out shopping. The girl didn't know yet that she was getting a brother or a sister, so Kate came up with the plan how to tell her. They were wandering through the mall, picking up clothes for themselves and they had a really good time together. Alexis loved spending time with Kate, she was more than a mother to her. She was her mom. She loved her more than her own mother, because Kate was with her when she had her heart broken for the first time, when she fell in love for the second time, when she was in trouble, and when she was just happy. Kate was there all the time, for better and for worse. She would give anything in the world to this girl, and Alexis knew that she loves her like her own daughter. Just like the girl loved her, like her own mother. More than a mother, and more than a friend. If that was even possible.

They wandered through the GAP store and Kate stopped in the GAP kids section. Alexis was busy trying on some jeans, so she didn't see what her mom was doing. Kate spotted cute little yellow shoes, and she couldn't stop herself from buying it. She went to the counter and paid for them. And then she waited for Alexis a few minutes, they paid for the clothes and left the shop. They decided to get some coffee, and then head home.

When they got to the Starbucks they ordered their coffees (Kate's doctor allowed her drink one small coffee a day), and sat down at the table on the comfortable sofa chairs.

"When do you have to go to work now?" Alexis asked, curious, because Kate took a few days off this week, and she wondered maybe they could go somewhere, not necessarily shopping connected, the next day.

"In two days. Why?"

"Oh, I thought maybe we could go to the movies tomorrow? You know, since it's almost vacation, and I don't have that much to study, we could spend more time together."

"I like the idea." Kate smiled. And then she took something out of her bag and put it on the table.

"What is that?" Alexis asked surprised at the sight of the nicely packed box in front of her.

"Open it." Kate smiled shyly and pushed the box in the Alexis' direction. The girl nodded slowly and took it. She ripped off the paper and saw cute little shoes.

"Oh... .God.!" she almost yelled. And then she smiled. Really wide. "Are you... Kate, am I..." she couldn't get the words out.

"Yes. You are getting a little brother or sister." Kate answered, smiling at the girl.

"That's... that's so awesome, Mom!" Alexis threw her hands on Kate's neck, hugging her, leaving her speechless. The girl had just called her "mom." Wow, that feeling. The indescribable feeling of being called "mom" for the first time. And it was her, who said that first. Her daughter. She had to admit that she'd call Alexis her daughter in her mind, and she thought of her as of her own, but she never thought that the girl would consider her a mom. And now she does. Oh God, this is how it feels like. To have a child and to be loved by them. And soon, she'll have two children, more love to give and to get. She loved that feeling.

.

When they came back home Rick wasn't there. He had meetings all they, so they knew he wouldn't be there. Alexis ordered in some chinese and they sat on the couch, turned the tv on. When the food arrived they sat at the kitchen counter and ate, talking about the baby, and everything in general. Alexis didn't hide her happiness according to having a sibling. They didn't touch the "mom" topic at all, but Kate felt that sometime in the future they would come back to this. And that was okay for now. Alexis started cleaning up after they ate and Kate went to the bathroom. Suddenly she didn't feel good. And it wasn't morning sickness. Something in her stomach started to hurt so bad that she fell on the floor and wrapped herself to the fetal position. The pain was almost unbearable.

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**Yeah, I know I'm cruel leaving it like that. But I think that was the best moment to end this chapter.**

**Ok, now hit the review button now, please :) Pretty please? I want to know what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! I owe you a big apology. Yeah, I haven't been updating this story for a pretty long time, and I'm sorry to everyone who waited for it. I need to say that I have my motives, I had to finish a long paper for my writing class, and I have to prepare to my finals now, plus I'm working everyday, so it's been really hard lately to find some time to write this, but I have a Sunday off, so here I am. I hope you all will like it.**

**Disclaimer: Uhm... No, not really. But I wish. A girl can dream, right? :)**

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She stood in front of the mirror in just her panties and bra, running her hands through her stomach. And she wondered if anyone could see her little baby bump. Of course she could see it, she knew she is pregnant, and she thought that it's big. The reality seemed to think different.

"What are you doing, mrs. Castle?" Rick asked walking in to the bathroom and hugging her from behind, hands on hers on the stomach, lips already moving along her neck. She gasped and turned her head to him.

"Nothing. Just... Checking." she answered.

"Checking?" he gave her a surprised look and when she pointed with her eyes to her hands on the stomach, he finally got it. "Oh, checking. But... Kate, really? You are still really slim." And for that comment she elbowed him.

"Shut up." She huffed. "I can see it. I can see that I am pregnant."  
"Yeah, that's because you know that. But really, to anyone else you don't look different at all. For now, of course."

"You know what, Castle?" said Kate throwing off his hands from her belly and turning around to face him. "Thanks for your support." and with those words she escaped the bathroom leaving him there, standing all alone, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Great Castle. You stupid moron, she's hormonal, you should know that. Well done." He whispered to himself, and left the bathroom to look for Kate.

.

Kate didn't tell Rick about the stomach pain that happened two weeks ago. She didn't think it was important, because it didn't last long and right after that she felt good again. She didn't even told Alexis about that. No point in worrying her da... his daughter. Yes, she caught herself thinking about Alexis as of her own daughter. Was it the right thinking? The girl was calling her "mom" more, so what the heck? She could let herself think about Alexis as her daughter. And she loved her like her own child, but she didn't want to take over Meredith's place. She felt somehow guilty that the girl called her "mom," because she already had a mom, and wondered what Meredith would say if she heard that. Kate made a mental note to talk about that with Alexis.

.

He found her on their living room couch, fully dressed now, sipping coffee.

"Kate? What are you doing?"  
"What are you doing, what are you doing! Is that all you are going to ask me all the time you want to say something to me?"  
"No, but..."  
"But what now, Rick?"

"Coffee? Really? Are you insane?" he finally walked towards her, took the cup of coffee from her and put it on the kitchen counter.

"What's wrong with that?"  
"Do I really have to remind you that you are pregnant?"  
"Oh, am I now? I though that you said a few minutes ago that I don't look like I'm pregnant at all!"

"Just because you don't look that, doesn't mean you aren't!" he yelled. He was pissed off. He knew she is hormonal and that he shouldn't have yelled, but she was getting on hist last nerves. So irresponsible. He looked at her and saw it, a little tear coming down her cheek. He felt so sorry for making her cry, he sat on the couch beside her and hugged her. Kate's head buried into his neck and the sat like this for a few minutes.

"Oh Jeez." she said shifting in his arms, so now her hand was on his chest, hand at his heart. "Why are we even arguing about some stupid things?"

"Hormonal much?" he laughed and looked down at her.

"I guess so. I'm so sorry, Rick. I didn't mean to piss you off. Really."  
"That's okay, Kate. I know." he said and kissed her forehead.

.

Kate and Lanie were sitting in the restaurant, they had some free time at work and they decided to go for lunch.

"Oh Jeez, we didn't have lunch together for ages!" said Lanie turning another page in the menu.

"I know, right? It's been too long. But it has been crazy busy at work lately." Kate answered, doing the same as her friend. They ordered their meals, and when they got the plates and started eating Lanie started her investigation.

"Do how are you doing? How are you feeling lately?" she asked.

"Well, I'm good. I mean, morning sickness are light on me for now."

"How is Castle taking your moods?"  
"What? How do you..."  
"Oh, come on, Kate. You think you are hormonal just at home? I hate to break it to you, but yeah, you bring those moods to work, too. Javi says you yell twice as much at them. And that you are really moody these days."

"Gonna kill him later. Well, if yes, I'm sorry for that. I can't control it."

"That's okay, honey." Lanie put her hand on Kate's. "We all get that." she smiled.

"So Castle... Rick doesn't let me drink my coffee. And I need my coffee, you know that." and at that Lanie burst out a laugh.

"Yeah, I know." she said. "Don't worry you'll get used to it. I don't drink coffee, and look at me, I live." she smiled at Kate and they turned back to eating their dinner.

.

About a month later she was taking a bath in their big bathtub in the bathroom upstairs. Her tiny baby bump was a little more showing now, and she liked rubbing it with her hands. She was always slim and this was something different to her, she was almost three months pregnant and she could see it so clearly now. Well, Rick still didn't think that her belly is big, but the most important thing to her was that she could feel that it's bigger and could finally see it. The proof, that she is going to be a mother. She was laying in her bubble bath, relaxing, and suddenly she felt it again. At first she thought that maybe the baby is kicking, but then realized that it's way too early for that and remembered the pain from a month and a half ago. There it was again. She held her stomach, pulled her knees to the chest, and waited until the pain will go away.

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**I'm sorry it's that short, but I really didn't have much time. Hit the "review" button, please, and let me know what you think about it. I'd love to read some opinions, and maybe your ideas for this story. Or maybe you have the idea what I have planned for them, please share it with me :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I really liked writing this chapter. First of, I love writing Kate/Alexis scenes. I adore them, and I believe that in the show they would have a really strong bond. And I can imagine that, but we'll see what happens, I guess at first Alexis won't be happy to see Kate in their apartment. But I really do believe that with the time they would have gotten closer. I also love writing drama, and when I was writing it, I could imagine real Kate and real Rick in that exact same situation. Yep, that's my strange imagination. Anyways, I have to admit, that in the end I stole a little from Lucas and Peyton from One Tree Hill. So yeah, the idea is partially from them (well, when I started to write this story I had the whole plan set up in my head, and I didn't plan to do it like this, but then I thought of them, and I kinda thought it suited here, too), some of the things are similar, even the dialogue worked here. I'm sorry, but I couldn't do it in any other way, so I hope you'll forgive me for stealing a little from One Tree Hill ;) **

**PS This is my longest chapter, and I'm like WOW, I managed to get out more than a thousand words. (Yeah, I usually just can't write long chapters, I just don't know how.) I hope that this chapter is satisfying enough ;) Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. And special thanks for NinaK.05 for the support and your kindness ;)**

**Disclaimer: Just as usual, you know the drill.**

The scent of freshly made coffee woke her up. She lazily put her feet on the floor, put on a pair of slippers, took her robe from the hook that was hanging on the door of their bedroom, and headed to the kitchen, where the lovely and oh so good scent came from. She thought it was Castle making breakfast, but instead her husband she saw Alexis sitting at the bar stool at the counter, with the cup of coffee in her hands, reading a newspaper. A plate with sandwiches with some colorful toppings in front of her. When the girl heard someone moving in her direction she lifted up her head.

"Morning, mom!" she smiled and added "Just in time, breakfast is ready." and she pointed her hand to the plate in front of her. "Want something to drink?"

And there it was. Her daughter made her breakfast, such a simple thing, and it made her swallow the tears of joy and happiness. Maybe she was hormonal. Stop, she definitely was hormonal, so simple things like that was getting to her every time. But there also was something else. The "mom" comment again. It was so natural now, she couldn't even think of Alexis calling her by her name. But still, every time the girl was referring to her with the word "mom", she was feeling a nice warm thing inside, and she couldn't even define what it was.

"Can I have a coffee?" Kate asked with her best puppy dog eyes. And how exactly did they end up here, where she had to ask her own daughter for a permission to have a cup of coffee?

"Uhm... No." Alexis answered. "You know, you can't. And mom, please don't try on me your tricks with the Pussy Boots eyes. They may work on dad, but not on me." she glared at Kate with the funny look on her face, as if she tried to say _don't mess with me, woman, _but she just couldn't keep it on long enough, and instead started smiling wide at Kate. "I can offer you an orange juice, a strawberry juice, milk or tea. So, what can I get you?"

"An orange juice it is." Kate said with the resigned look on her face. And when Alexis hopped off from the bar stool and moved to the fridge to get Kate some juice, she asked "and where exactly is your dad off to? He wasn't in bed when I woke up."

"Oh yeah, he went out for another meeting with Paula. You know, books stuff." the girl answered and went to the counter again passing Kate a glass of OJ. "So, I have a day off of school, and I was thinking... Maybe we should do some baby shopping? You know, like some cute little tiny clothes, or maybe stuff for the nursery?"Alexis proposed, looking at Kate.

"Well... Yeah, I think it's a good idea. I guess, better now, when I'm four months along, than when I will look like an elephant and won't want to move much." and with those words, the girls started laughing.

A few minutes later, Alexis had an impulse, so she went over the counter to the other side, where her mom was sitting, put her hand at Kate's belly, rubbed it over and said "Hey little baby. It's your sister, Alexis. We're going shopping with mom today, are you happy?" and then the girl leaned in and kissed Kate in the cheek. Kate put her arms open for Alexis, so she could give her a warm hug, so they were in a tight embrace now, neither one of them wanting to stop this moment.

.

"Rick? Can you come here and help me?" she yelled from their bedroom.

He was sitting in the armchair in the living room, reading a book. When he heard her, he quickly stood up and ran to the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Kate was sitting on her knees, on their bedroom floor, trying to get some boxes from under the bed.

" Well, nothing. I just need to pull out some stuff I hid here, and now, my fat stomach does not allow me to lean in that far. Can you pull it out for me?" she asked half frustrated. She hated it that she couldn't do it herself.

"Yeah, sure." he answered, and went down on his knees, to search some boxes under the bed. When he wen t out from under it he saw her on the floor, hugging her stomach, face all covered in pain. He threw the boxes behind him and in one second he was near her. "Kate! Kate! What is happening? What's wrong, love?" he was really scared, whatever was happening with her wasn't anything good. He could tell that just from the looks of it.

"I'm ok, Rick. It will pass in a minute." she answered, feeling a little better already.

"Trust me, you're definitely not okay."

"No, it's fine. I'm fine. See, it passed."

"We're going to the hospital, there's no way you're not having the examination" Rick said, still scared, he had no idea what was going on. He helped her get up from the floor and sat her down on the bed. "I'm calling an ambulance."

"Rick, really. No need to worry. I had those pains before, they go away."

"What? You what? Why didn't you tell me about them?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry. And as you can see, it's nothing. Gone already. So, can you pass me those boxes, I need to search them."

"You have got to be kidding me. You're not going to search any boxes. We're going to the hospital, right now." now he was pissed, angry and worried. He was also surprised that Kate didn't tell him about the pain, contractions, whatever that was, and he was mad about it. The health of his baby and Kate was the most important thing to him, and she didn't care to tell him. Jeez, he needed to know what is wrong, because yeah, the pain in the middle of pregnancy is always a bad sign. He called an ambulance and waited.

.

Kate stood in the kitchen by the sink and was washing the dishes. Yes, they had a dishwasher, but right now, she just wanted to do it herself. It always calmed her down. The water was pouring on the dishes as she was crying. No one had foreseen this situation she was in right now. Did she really have to choose between her own life and her child's life? She heard Rick coming to the kitchen, she quickly brushed her eyes with her sleeve, her extra large size hoodie hanging on her. She didn't stop doing the dishes.

"Kate..." he said coming closer to her. He didn't know how to do this. He didn't know what to say and how to say it. "Have you thought about our options?"

"What options, Rick?" she yelled at him turning around with a clean plate in her hand. The thought of him thinking about the abortion was unbearable.

"Honey, we need to decide something." he came closer to her and pulled her in a warm hug. "We need to do something. It's hard, I know. But I want you to grow old with me, I don't want you to put your life at risk."

"My life is already at risk, Rick!" She pulled away. "I have a cancer for God's sake!"

"But the doctor said that if we end this, you have a better chance. You'll get your chemo right away, you'll be fine!"

"No, Rick. I won't be fine! You know why? Because I'll have to live with the thought that I had to kill my own child, to live myself. And I couldn't live with the thought of that!"

"But what about me? I don't want to loose you, I love you! Don't you understand?"

"You don't get it, do you?" She yelled again, and then in the wave of anger she hit the plate on the edge of the counter. It broke. She didn't seem to care."It's not about you and me anymore! It's about this life inside of me that we created together. I want her to have my curly hair, or him to have your blue eyes. This little person..." She put her hands on her five months old size stomach. "It's you. And it's me. We saved each other so many times.. Don't you think we should save this life now? For the sake of our love?"

"But what if I... what if _we_ loose you..." He stammered, his eyes wet. "If you... if you die.. I couldn't look this kid in the eyes, knowing that it killed you."

"God, Rick. I don't worry about that for a second, because you are not that person. I know that you'll love him or her no matter what. It is after all a little part of me, isn't it?" A single tear came down her cheek. "It's not about saving us anymore. I need to do this. I'm having this baby." She said closing them in another hug. And then the baby started kicking really hard. She quickly put his hand on her stomach, so he couldn't miss it. He smiled through the tears.

"We're having this baby." He said kissing her forehead. That was it, this little person gave him the sign. And just then he knew what they need to do. They'll have to wait. Just a few months now, three or four, it;s not that long. And maybe Kate will be okay after all? Maybe this little delay in taking her medication won't be as damaging as it could be? And he suddenly felt so optimistic about it, just like he was at the beginning of the pregnancy. That feeling came back, and he was really grateful to God for her and this child. They could fight like hell, and he was just so grateful that they both, she and their baby, could convince him.

**Love it? Like it? Hate it? Please, review.**


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